Happy Birthday Bach!

Johann Sebastian Bach, March 21st, 1685 - July 28th, 1750

Portrait by Haussman, 1748

We have been enjoying the music of Johann Sebastian Bach for a few months now. Today is his birthday. I informed the Nuthatch of this interesting trivia and he replied quizzically "Isn't he dead?" and went off to figure out how someone who was dead could still have a birthday.

The first thing I did when we started learning about Bach was to play Mr. Bach Comes to Call by Classical Kids whenever we went anywhere in the car. It has a story about a 9 year old girl who is practicing her piano lessons when Mr. Bach appears and tells her about his life. It is interspered with snippets of his music. The CD starts with a countdown to a rocket launch, my boys were hooked after "T-minus 10, 9, 8, . . ."

The next thing I did was choose some of their favorite snippets from the CD and try to find the longer complete pieces. I was particularly enjoying the Gigue from the French Suite No. 5 in G major, so I found a recording of all of them by Glenn Gould. We also listened to some of the Brandenburg Concertos.

I also found a book by Opal Wheeler called 'Sebastian Bach, the Boy from Thuringia'. The Nuthatch enjoyed it, but the Bluejay inevitably fell asleep every time we read it. I think it would be better for slightly older children.

I love Bach's music. There is something mathematical about it that appeals to me. We've been learning about Bach for a few months now, and I suppose it's about time we moved on to Mozart, but I am enjoying Bach so much I can't bring myself to let go and move on. The kids seem just as entranced. I often hear the Bluejay wandering around the house humming the Minuet in G to himself.

If you're not a fan of classical music, one thing to remember is that it takes time to get to know a piece of classical music. When you listen to other types of music, you know right away whether you like a song or not. In pop or rock, the songs are fairly simple and repetitive. With classical music the pieces are complex and your brain will need to listen to it a number of times before you can internalize the song. It grows on you. Before you know it you will be humming the Minuet in G to yourself too.